Guide for rail mills



Nov. 9, 1943.

R. F. KINTER ErAL 2,333,937

GUIDE FOR RAIL MILLS y l Filed Aug. 13, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l 'Nov- 9,1943- R. F. KINTER ETAL 2,333,937

GUIDE FOR RAIL MILLSv l Filed Aug. 13, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedNov., 9, i943 GUIDE FOR RAIL MILLS Ralph F. Kinter, North Braddock, andRobert G. Stewart, Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application August 13, 1941,r Serial No. 406,707

f 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in rail mill stripperguides adapted to prevent scratching the head of a rail as it comes fromthe mill.

The improved guide includes upper and lower members jointly defining apassageway which corresponds approximately with the active pass dened bythe coacting grooved rolls of the mill except that the passageway isslightly larg-er than the finished rail size.

Each stripper guide member carries one or more guide rollers whoseperipheries extend into the passageway to thus keep the iinished railspaced away from the inner surfaces of such passageway. In other words,the stripper guide rollers insure clearance between the iinished railand the inner surface of the guideway passage for the express purpose ofholding the rail clear of the surface of the passageway so as to preventscratching or scoring of the rail.

The above and more detailed features of the invention will be fullyapparent from the following detailed disclosure when read in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a iinishing stand of rolls of a railmill showing the improved stripper guide of the present inventionapplied thereto;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary detail view on an enlarged scale illustratingthe construction of the improved stripper guide;

Figure 3 is a detached detail view of an insert unit carrying stripperguide rollers constituting an important feature of the invention;

Figure 4 is a plan view of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a section on line V-V of Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a section on line VI-VI of Figure 1.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral I0 represents a housingor roll stand supporting the finishing rolls I2 and I4 of a conventionaltype of rail mill. These rolls are of conventional form and are groovedso that they jointly define an active pass corresponding to the crosssectional contour of a T-rail such as used in conventional railway trackinstallations.

Heretofore rails leaving the mill have been passed through various typesof guides, but the guides heretofore used have been open to theobjection that the rails rubbing thereon become scratched or otherwisedefaced. The trade de; mands high standards of quality and scratching orscoring of the rail frequently results in the customer not accepting therail. To overcome this shortcoming of conventional prior practice weprovide, in combination with the nishing rolls of the rail mill, theimproved stripper guide now to be described.

The guide members serve as strippers for directing the outwardlytraveling rail in a straight path to a suitable cooling bed I6 whichconsists of a plurality of rolls I8 driven in a. conventional manner forcarrying away the nished rail. Our improved stripper guide includesupper and lower members 20 and 22 whose inner extremities 24 and 26 areshaped to provide arcuate portions 28 and 30 of approximately the sameradius as that portion of the roll with which they coact.

The outer end of the lower member 22 is provided with a notched portion32 which ts over a stationary support or rest bar 34. The notchedconstruction holds the stripper guide bar against longitudinal movementbut yet permits the inner end 26 to swing downwardly so that the arcuateportion 30 makes a rubbing contact with the surface of the lower rollI4, Ordinarily the weight of the stripper guide member 22 is suflicientto maintain proper contact with the roll. However, if desired, a weight36 may be provided fastened to a suitable bar 38 whose upper end carriesa pin which extends through an opening 40 formed in the guide member.

The upper stripper guide member 20 is provided with a notched portion 42which makes a fulcruming engagement with a stationary bar 44. A lever 46pivoted at 48 is connected by a link 50 and a pin 52 with the upperguide member 20, and a counterweight 54 carried by a rod 56 is suspendedfrom a pin 58 secured to the free end of the lever 46. As thus arranged,the counterweight tends to rock the stripper guide member 20 about therest bar 44 as a fulcrum to yieldingly hold the arcuate portion 28 ofthe upper guide member in rubbing contact with the upper roll I2 of themill.

The stripped guide members 20 and 22 as thus arranged jointly form a,grooved passageway indicated generally at 60. The passageway serves toconfine the rail as it leaves the active pass dened by the rolls I2 andI4. 'I'he inner extremities of. the stripper guide members 20 and 22extend close to the nip of the coacting rollers, Thus as the rail leavesthe mill the guide members function as strippers and guide the rail in astraight path toward the cooling bed. 'I'he size and shape of thepassageway 60 will correspond approximately to the active pass of therolls as shown in Figure 6. However, the passageway will be slightly inexcess of the dimensions of the rail which it guides, and to preventscratching or otherwise defacing the finished rail in accordance withthe present invention, we provide an improved antifrlction rail guidingmeans.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, this improved guidingmeans takes the form of respective pairs of upper and lower antifrictionrollers i2 and 64. 'Ihese rollers are desirably mounted in quickdetachable units or subassembiies. 'I'he upper and lower sub-assembliesor units are substantial duplicates; therefore, a description of onewill suii'ice for both.

As best shown in Figures 3 to 5, each subassembly or unit consists of ablock 60 notched as at il to provide a recess to receive ,the rollers.The notch 68 is bridged by a plate 10 which is secured to the block bythrough-bolts 12. Studs 14 are jointly supported by the block 0I and theplate 1I, as shown in Figure 5, and each stud 14 carries a bali bearing'i6 fitted to the interior of the roll as shown in Figure 5. A suitablefitting 18 is provided to facilitate the introduction of grease or otherlubricant into the bearing roller.

The upper and lower stripper guide members 20 and 22 are provided withdove-tail or undercut cavities 80 and 82 of a size and shape to make aneat fit with the oblique ends of blocks t6. If desired, wedges orkeyways 84 may be employed to removably lock the blocks 86 to therespective guide members. The size of the rollg ers 62 and i4 is suchthat the'perlpheries thereof extend into the passageway jointly formedby the upper and lower guide members 2li and 22. 'I'hus there is alwaysmaintained a clearance between the rail and the inner surfaces of thestripper guide way.

From the drawings it will be apparent that the upper guide rollers 62are positioned in the guide member 2l for coaction with a side face Ilof the head H of the rail. Similarly, the guide rollers Il arepositioned in the lower guide member 22 for coaction with the guide edge90 of the base flange F of the rail. As thus arranged, the rollers Ilhold the side face 92 of the rail head clear of the inner surface 94 ofthe portion of the guide eway formed by the lower guide member 22. 'I'heupper rollers 62 hold the face 4 Il of the rail head H clear of thesurface 9 8 of the guide geway formed by the upper guide member 2l. Itis apparent that there is always provided a running clearance throughthe outcoming rail and the guideway surfaces of the upper and lowerguides 20 and 22. Since the guide rollers 02 and M are mounted onantifriction bearings, it will be apparent that the oncoming rail issupported with a minimum amount of` .We claim:

1. Arolling mill of the charactes-described comprising upper and lowerstripper members 'extending inwardly beyond the inner guide faces oi'the respective members which mount the blocks. l

2. A rolling mill of the character described, comprising coacting millrolls, upper and lower stripper members movable relative to one another,

the inner faces thereof defining a guide passageway, xed members onwhich said strippers are fuicrumed, respective means operativelyconnected with the stripper members and tending to press their innerextremities into stripping coaction with the mili rolls, and respectiveupper and lower umts detachably mounted in recesses formed in saidstripper members, each of said units carrying bearing studs supportingguide rollers whose peripheries project beyond the respective innerguide faces of said guide members.

3. A rolling mill of the character described, comprising upper andlowerI stripper members whose inner faces define a guide passageway,each of said members having a recess formed in an upright edge thereofand respective demountable units comprising blocks shaped to iit in eachrecess, each unit including an antifriction roller whose peripheryextends beyond the inner guide face of the respective member, andquickly detachable means for securing said blocks in said recesses.

4. The combination with the rolls of a rolling mill, of means forstripping the work fed therefrom comprising upper and lower strippermembers defining a passageway terminating in the region of the nip ofthe rolls, an independent fixed iulcrum for each stripper member,respective means operatively connected with each stripper member tendingto urge the inner extremity thereof into stripping engagement with oneof said mill rolls, each stripper member having an undercut recessformed therein intermediate the fulcrum point thereof and its innerextremity, and quickly detachable blocks having oblique ends ntted insaid recesses, each block having a respective pair of guide rollersjournaled therein. the rollers of the upper insert being so positionedthat the lower parts of their peripheries extend below the inner lowerguide face of said upper gripper member, and the rollers of the lowerblock being so positioned that the @Per parts of their peripheriesextend above the inne upper rguide face of said lower member.

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